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I wish they chose Terror From The Deep instead. It's my favorite. Not so much because of gameplay mechanics, which are barely changed and don't take advantage of underwater environment. I just loved the atmosphere:
- better music
- nicer art direction, XCOM/UFO 1 looks like an obnoxious american superhero comic to me
- slightly Cthulhu-ish flavor
- environments ! Your underwater base is attacked and no police, military or even an ambulance can arrive and help you. Seedy port areas, cruise ships, sunken ruins or coral mazes.
- slightly better balance. Torpedo launcher doesn't work above water, the equivalent of laser rifles DOES become obsolete.

Nevertheless, I'm cautiously optimistic. The game may just be enjoyable. And if it's a success, they may remake TFTD as well. It has amazing potential due to different environment (underwater) and atmosphere.

The only thing about this that is a bit worrisome is the fact that they're also making it for consoles. How many corners will they have to cut to make it console friendly, and how will this affect the PC version? Hopefully, none and not at all, but you never know...

Oh god I hope not. TFTD was just ridiculously difficult with all the one-hit super resistant monsters. Also, what equivalent of laser rifles? I don't recall anything having unlimited ammo, which was the major reason why you kept laser rifles (cheap, no upkeep) as well as the alien weapons (better damage, upkeep in clips). The closest I can think are the Gauss Rifles which were borderline useless.

The only thing about this that is a bit worrisome is the fact that they're also making it for consoles. How many corners will they have to cut to make it console friendly, and how will this affect the PC version? Hopefully, none and not at all, but you never know...

Well, I doubt it's going to be a technological marvel but I have no idea how they would even begin to create a controller-friendly control scheme for something like X-Com. It's like eating soup with a fork.

The only thing about this that is a bit worrisome is the fact that they're also making it for consoles.

Oh.
That's not a bit worrisome. That's terrifying !

How many corners will they have to cut to make it console friendly, and how will this affect the PC version? Hopefully, none and not at all, but you never know...

When was the last time you've played a console/PC game that wasn't simplified or otherwise watered down ? I stopped buying games that have console versions, except for games which make a console port later.

Originally Posted by soldant

Oh god I hope not. TFTD was just ridiculously difficult with all the one-hit super resistant monsters.

You mean like the Chrysalids in UFO ? TFTD had Tentaculats and that's it. I never let Lobster Men come close.

I got bored with TFTD, even when it was new (and that's in the wake of being completely consumed by it for two weeks). It got boring, and there was just too much in the combat for a turn-based system to handle. Constant terror sites and bases needed doing, but these now took hours to complete.

The worst example was doing a ship mission... the last Lobsterman hid in the closet of one of the cabins! Have you any idea how tedious it is to search all four/five decks, from top to bottom, in a turn based game? The motion detector was useless, and you had to go right into the room to turn and look into the closet. Then, of course, comes the second phase, below decks.

They pushed the engine beyond breaking point there. Some of the later, crucial technologies required a lot of time to research (even with my huge, dedicated research base) that I'd have to do upwards of a dozen tedious busywork combat missions just to see the next piece of research completed.

Apocalypse saved the day by having huge, complex levels but letting you use pauseable real-time so the searches (often with motion sensor in hand to spot aliens trying to run for the exits) were far more enjoyable.

The only thing about this that is a bit worrisome is the fact that they're also making it for consoles. How many corners will they have to cut to make it console friendly, and how will this affect the PC version? Hopefully, none and not at all, but you never know...

They don't have to cut any corners to make it console friendly. While the PC hasn't had a large amount of turn based strategy games in years, the consoles still get them on a daily basis, and many of those games (such as the Disgaea series) are just as complex, if not more so, then your average PC TBS and work just fine with the controller.

And the original X-Com was ported to the PlayStation as well and wasn't that bad in terms of controls, and from the little I played on my personal copy it didn't take out any features. If they could do it right in 1995 they can do it now. Hell, Jagged Alliance got ported to the DS and from what I understand, they did a pretty decent job with the limited resources they had and didn't cut anything there either. You can make a decent turn based strategy for both systems without sacrificing a thing.

Firaxis has far greater resources and if they fall back on "we simplified it for consoles" they are selling *all* players short, not just PC ones.

This remake has a lot of competition on the consoles from other TBS games and if it sucks, its going to get called out, just the same as it would on the PC. If its simplified, its going to get called out on that as well, because console players who play turn based strategy games are extremely hardcore about them and the genre.

The point is, if they make it simplified or watered down, its not because of the consoles at all, who can definitely handle complex turn based strategy games (and its possible to make an interface that works for both consoles and PCs.) Blame Firaxis if that happens, not consoles and their players.

I'm not all that excited about this because the definitive XCOM has aleady been made. It's the sort of game that makes all attempted remakes feel like inferior knockoffs and I'm really not sure what one could do differently to change that.

"You go up to a man, and you say, "How are things going, Joe?" and he says, "Oh fine, fine — couldn't be better." And you look into his eyes, and you see things really couldn't be much worse. When you get right down to it, everybody's having a perfectly lousy time of it, and I mean everybody. And the hell of it is, nothing seems to help much." - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

You mean like the Chrysalids in UFO ? TFTD had Tentaculats and that's it. I never let Lobster Men come close.

UFO only had Chrysalids. TFTD would spam Tentaculats and Lobsermen, particularly on the base and terror missions. A lot of the enemies had the difficulty ramped up simply by including a greater resistance to firearms or by being a pain to kill. It didn't add any strategic depth or really do anything new except "Everything is harder to kill and most of your equipment is useless." That's not good game design. I still enjoy TFTD but for me it didn't have the same impact as the original. It felt lazy.

Never played the originals, but I'd be much more interested in this remake (or Xenonauts) than the FPS they're making.

Still, the fact it's coming out on consoles too is a little worrying - I think they're far more likely to make compromises that take it further away from the original if they're aiming for a console audience. One to keep an eye on though. I just wish EA would do something similar with Syndicate to coincide with the release of the FPS. Will just have to wait for Cartel I suppose.

People should not be to worried, unless they do not redo the UI for the PC. Yes, they will have to make some compromises to make it enticing to a larger audience than what the audience was in 1994. But it can still be good. If you want someone closer to the original and more hardcore, play Xenonauts.

As someone who's only ever played derivatives of X-COM rather than the originals (like the "UFO: After____" series, and the fan-project "UFO: Alien Invasion"), I'm really looking forward to this.
The only thing that I hope is that Xenonauts doesn't get overlooked because of this - personally, because of the setting and (hopefully) the air combat, I think they'll probably be different enough for the likes of me to buy both.